This piqued Dean’s interest in its contents even more.
He carefully observed the structure of the compartment door.
After all, he was a man with the L1 Theft Skill. Although not an expert, he possessed a certain understanding of the construction of locks and similar mechanisms.
I can break through this door!
Dean raised his foot, just about to kick the door’s connecting point, when a thought struck him. He grabbed the wide-eyed corpse propped against the wall, dragged it over to the compartment door, and then delivered a heavy kick.
The violent impact echoed through the narrow underground space.
Clear cracks appeared where the door met the wall.
Emboldened, Dean channeled the power of Ancient Muay Thai, concentrating his force on the connecting point with each kick. After a dozen more, a dull CRACK! resonated as the thick compartment door tilted and crashed inwards.
Without hesitation, Dean grabbed the nearby corpse to use as a shield, squeezed the trigger of the weapon in his hand, and charged in.
The next moment, bullets clashed. BANG! BANG! BANG! The intense gunfire echoed relentlessly.
The large corpse Dean held before him shuddered violently under the hail of bullets. From inside the compartment, a woman’s scream pierced the air.
Dean paid no mind. Dragging the corpse, he retreated from the compartment, simultaneously aiming his weapon towards the source of the screams and unleashing a torrent of bullets. With a rifle, speed is more important than accuracy. The screams, cut short by his precise shots, lasted less than two seconds before abruptly ceasing.
The return fire from inside also fell silent.
Amidst the thick smell of gunpowder, Dean listened intently for a moment. After some thought, he picked up the large shotgun that had been slung over the corpse. Holding the corpse with his left hand and the shotgun with his right, he re-entered.
In a confined space , a shotgun is the great equalizer. Even bulletproof vests are useless!
However, as it turned out, his caution had been excessive.
Inside the small room, a terrified old man cowered beneath an oddly shaped operating table. He clutched an empty handgun, desperately pulling the trigger at Dean.
On the operating table, a naked, partially dissected body lay, already riddled with bullets.
Beneath the table, another female corpse lay lifeless in a corner.
Seeing the old man was no longer a threat, Dean habitually scanned his surroundings. He then noticed flashing red lights in all four corners—clearly, four high-definition, uncensored cameras covered every angle of the room.
Sensing trouble, Dean dropped the corpse he’d been using as a shield, raised his weapon, and destroyed the four cameras with a four-round burst. Furious, he rushed towards the old man and slammed him onto the dissected body on the operating table.
"Speak! What the hell were you doing?!"
"It’s over... It’s all over!" The old man gave a wretched smile, his previous terror replaced by a fearless resolve as he lunged for the shotgun in Dean’s hand.
Dean instinctively pulled the trigger.
The next moment, a message appeared in Dean’s mind:
[Elderly Slaughterhouse Case solved. Experience Points +5,000. L9 → L12. Attribute Points +3. Skill Points +3]
The haul of Experience Points this time certainly didn’t disappoint him. Combined with the Experience Points he’d already accumulated, bringing him close to leveling up, he now jumped three levels at once.
The rewards were one thing, but seeing the cameras he had shot out in the corners, Dean felt a flicker of unease.
This scene... I feel like I’ve heard about something somewhere before.
"Forget it. They can do whatever they want. I’m wearing a mask, anyway!" Dean muttered, shaking off his unease. He glanced regretfully at the lifeless Brownhagen before turning to leave.
Originally, I’d thought Brownhagen had so much dirty money, I might ’borrow’ some to spend for him. It would’ve even counted as helping him earn merit in God’s eyes. But no, the old fool had to go and court death, and my instincts were just too fast...
After quickly cleaning up any traces and destroying the surveillance equipment, Dean drove back to the city.
On an extremely rare encrypted live-streaming platform, as the broadcast cut to a black screen, blood-red comments rapidly flooded the chat...